A Few Days with Moto 360 2nd

Last year I bought the first-gen Moto 360, swapped the band later, and it turned out great. I wore it for a full year and honestly it changed my life a little. Now the upgrade, Moto 360 2nd, is here — redesigned lugs, better battery life, more customization options, and an official China release.

I wasn’t really unhappy with the first gen. Battery was enough for me, and the second gen’s “a bit over a day” feels awkward anyway — you still have to charge it at night…

The main reason I bought the Moto 360 2nd is… looks. I hated the black first-gen Moto 360. Plenty of people saw it and said it looked like plastic. So while I was kicking myself for not buying silver, I kept refreshing the Google Store until the silver version came back in stock, ordered it and shipped it through a forwarding service. Arrived without a hitch.

I got the 46mm. As you can see, it’s basically the same size as the first gen — no real difference. The silver just looks much better. Why not the China version? Because it has no Google Now, and I’m a hopeless Google fanboy, so I went with overseas shopping.

There was a firmware update right after I got it.

After a few days of use, the features are pretty much the same as the first gen, but the experience is very different.

1. First, the lugs mean it no longer digs into your wrist. Very comfortable. The color and leather band look sharp too — I’m not planning to swap it.
2. The screen resolution is higher, it looks really fine, no more obvious pixels. Though the old pixelation wasn’t that noticeable unless you looked closely.
3. The big one is battery life — way better than I expected, it just keeps going. Took it off the charger at 6:30 AM, commuted by bike both ways, everything on except WiFi, including always-on screen. Checked notifications normally, even replied to a few WhatsApp messages (with emoji and voice). Then opened Endomondo and ran for an hour, got home at 9:30 PM and it still had 39%. Without the run it’d probably be 59%. That’s a world of difference from the first gen — with always-on screen on the old one, it was nearly dead by midday.
4. Last, Google Now responds faster than the first gen. Not sure if it’s the better performance or a more sensitive mic.

So yeah, the second gen fixes most of the first gen’s shortcomings. Worth buying…

Shame though: Google Now on Tap in Android 6.0 only works with an English system, so the watch is stuck in English too. No more “告白” in English — only “loved and lost.”